Are Desktop Computers Gone?

For a number of years, the life of the desktop computer has been waning in popularity and usage, to a point of being just a shell of its dominant past. The world has just turned mobile, and the dark box many used to term the 'hard drive' is slowly being forced into obscurity.

Endangered Species In any case, the desktop would still be the best machine for media buffs, programmers and gamers including a number other users after the ease and power of a real superb computer, a chair, desk and huge screen.

However, in the recent past, news items have thrown a dark cloud into this after the future of the desktop, if at all there is one, is anything to write home about. The first thing that brought doubts to just about anybody is the iPad sales which were put at 11 percent above the personal computer market. The figure was perplexing considering that the iPad had just been introduced. Another reason is that OS X Lion depicts the first move of blending OS X and iOS. With these in mind, it is only sane to look into the present and the future that is shaping the death of the desktop computer.

The current situation of the desktop reminds people of the fact that innovations are very fickle as it loses some steam. A major reason is the trend of small computing machines, not heavy or underpowered anymore as the world gets filled with notebooks, netbooks, Smartphones and tablets to carryout tasks that needed heavier and larger machines. While the above data suggest that the desktop future is declining, some have suggested that the personal computer is still needed. However, here are two main reasons as to why the desktop computer is considered 'gone'.

The cloudStorage capacity and power are two main reasons why many have always turned to desktop computers. But the world of cloud computing is becoming so common and popular and this two values are being rethought by computer users. Obviously, when it comes to storage, the cloud space is much affordable and heavily ubiquitous and the need for a hard drive with terabytes will not be that necessary. In fact, it is possible to access limitless storage at less than 100 USD annually and spending hundreds of dollars, sometimes thousands, to purchase a desktop PC might not be logical.

The world is slowly turning to the cloud as internet speeds keep improving and the SkyDrive and Dropbox, both cloud storage and sharing facilities accessed free at some point, are good pointers of why physical desktop computing is being buried alive.

The TabletIn the current form, the tablet can never be considered a replacement for a desktop computer. In the past three or so years the tablet has turned to be one of the best creations and developments in the world of computing as it fuses a lot of computing functions with the daily needs of a computer such as internet access, online streaming, online book reading, gaming, photography and a host of other functions. Obviously, in just a few years the tablet CPU is expected to be so powerful the Intel i7 will be considered a joke and the storage capacity will be so high, including possibilities of thunderbolt/USB ports and HDMI out. Probably the tablet will be plugged in with a mouse, keyboard, perhaps wirelessly and the desktop will be gone.

Obviously, the desktop is still intensely needed in various institutions and homes mostly in areas the world of iPad, Smartphones and mobile cloud computing is yet to hit, but that is changing.

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